Love in a Rideshare: 7 in 10 Millennials Have “Hooked-Up” in the Back Seat

By Brionna Lewis

Have you ever gotten hot and heavy in the back of your Uber or Lyft ride? You’re not alone. As they say, there’s nothing new under the sun, including getting frisky in a car. From traditional drive-in movie action to Beyonce asking the limo driver to “roll up the partition,” back seat loving is probably as old as cars themselves. What is new? Rideshares. We were interested in seeing how the popularity of rideshares has changed romance in cars, so we surveyed 1,000 millennials in cities across the country to find out about their romantic encounters in rideshares.

Our findings are interesting

You may remember a few edgy 2011 posts from the Uber data blog. One of the posts highlighted the correlation of peak ridership and neighborhoods in San Francisco with the highest rates of prostitution, theft and alcohol-related crimes. In another post, Uber coined the term “Ride of Glory,” someone presumably taking an Uber home after a one-night stand:

“A RoGer is anyone who took a ride between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. on a Friday or Saturday night, and then took a second ride from within 1/10th of a mile of the previous nights’ drop-off point 4-6 hours later (enough for a quick night’s sleep).”

After facing a firestorm of criticism regarding privacy, heavy-handed PR tactics and attitudes towards women, Uber removed the post from its blog.

The Official Word

Uber:As far as official policies go, Uber’s is pretty explicit. Their Community Guidelines state that the sexual and romantic behavior we found many riders engaging in could lead to the loss of access to Uber. “As our community guidelines make clear, you shouldn’t touch or flirt with other people in the car. As a reminder, Uber has a no sex rule. That’s no sexual conduct with drivers or fellow riders, no matter what. And you should never hit or otherwise hurt a driver or fellow passenger.”

Lyft:While Lyft doesn’t have any explicit policies for this type of behavior, they encourage drivers to put their safety first, empowering them to cancel any ride if they feel unsafe or uncomfortable. “You have the right to decide if you feel comfortable picking up a passenger. Your safety comes first. If you ever drive up to a passenger and you feel uncomfortable for safety reasons, let us know about it as soon as possible by tapping ‘Contact Support’ below. You may ask the passenger to cancel the ride, or cancel it yourself if they won’t.”

Our advice?

Riders participating in extracurricular activities in a rideshare should do so at their own risk. Brionna is on a roller coaster that only goes up. You can follow her on twitter @BrionnaLewis - https://instamotor.com/blog/love-rideshare-study